Concrete finishing machine



`lune 17, 1969 Filed July 5, 1967 H. W. GoDBERsx-:N

CONCRETE FINISHING MACHINE June 17, 1969 H. w. GODBERSEN CONCRETEFINISHING MACHINE sheet 2 @f3 Filed July 3, 1967 June 17, 1969 H. w.GODBERSEN 3,450,011

CONCRETE FINISHING MACHINE Filed July s, 19e"v sheet 5 of s UnitedStates Patent ABSTRACT oFTHE DISCLOSURE A concrete finishing machine,utilizing a traveling carriage to transport a finishing membertransversely over a .slab of concrete. Several forms of finishingmembers may `be used, and an auger type smoothing member is used toprovide preliminary smoothing and leveling of the concrete in advance ofthe finishing member.

My invention relates to a concrete finishing machine.

An object of my invention is to provide a machine of this type whichwill efficiently finish off the surface of a concrete roadway or thelike.

A further object of my invention is to provide a machine which willsmoothly prepare the upper surface of the concrete and wherein theheavier particles such as the aggregate and the like will be forceddownwardly into the cement.

A further object of my invention is to provide a revolving structurewhich will finish off the concrete in the manner stated while the entiremachine is moving in the direction of the roadway.

' A further object of my invention is to provide adjusting features foradjusting to the crown or the shape of the roadway.

A further object of my invention is to provide an adjustable augerarrangement which works in conjunction with the revolving structure toprovide more efiiciently the aforesaid smooth surface.

A further object of my invention is to provide an adjustable supportingarrangement which besides acting as a carriage structure will readilyconform to the various widths of the tracks or rails upon which themachine opcrates.

A further object of my invention is to provide an eiciently operatingreversing arrangement which will provide means whereby the revolvingstructure and its carriage will be automatically reversed at the end ofits transverse travel.

Apfurther object of my inventionis to provide `a, sectional arrangementwhich can be adapted to various road simple means. v

With these and other objects in view, myinvention consists in theconstruction, arrangement, and combination yot' the various parts of mydevice, whereby the objects stantially along the line 5 5 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 6 is a detail of the reversing mechanism,

FIGURE 7 is a schematic diagram of the electrical circuits,

FIGURE 8 is a view showing one variation in the type of finishingmember, I

generalwidths, -and to provide a device which can be powered by 3,450,01l Patented June y17, 1969 iCC FIGURE 9 is an elevational view ternativefinishing member,

FIGURE 10 is a detailed bottom the finishing member of FIG. 9, j FIGURE11 is an end view of the device of FIG. 9,

FIGURE 12 is an elevational view showing still another alternativefinishing member, and I j FIGURE 13 is an end elevational view of the front support of the finishing member of FIG. 11 showing the bearingsupport.

My invention contemplates the provision of a concrete finishing machinehaving a variety of advantages as mentioned in the objects hereinaboveand which will nowbe explained. l z

II have used the character 10 to designate vertically positioned sideplates which are adapted to extend laterally across a roadway to befinished, there being three such sections as shown in FIGURE 1 forproviding the longest span. The machine is designed to use one, two,`three or more sections. These sections terminate at the angle members11, so that by the use of varying members of sections, any width ofroadway can be accommodated.

Vertical braces 12 are secured to the members 10. The members 10terminate in the upper track portions 13 and the lower track portions14, these track portions being in perfect alignment when the sectionsare all bolted together as shown.

Added angle portions 15 are fixed between the members 10. Passingthrough the members 15 (see FIGURE 5) are the lengthened bolts 16 havingheads 17 received under the ilange portions 18 of the straps 19. Tothese straps are secured a pair of lengthened round rods 20 upon whichthe rollers 21 travel for moving and supporting the carriage structureto be described.

The bolts 16 are threadably engaged with the nuts 22 which can be usedto adjust the members 19 to any desired height thereby providing thatthe bars 20 will match the crown of the roadway, which crown is usuallyhighest at the center.

The bolt and nut arrangements 23 (see FIGURES 1 and 5) are used toadditionally tighten the support straps 19 after the conformation hasbeen pre-set. The additional straps 24, which are shorter than thestraps 19, and spaced between them, are used to further stabilize andbrace the arrangement after it has been properly set, the slots 25permitting of adjustment in both straps 19 and 24.

A V-belt member 27 is secured as at 26 (see FIGURE showing anotheralplan vview showing 2) to one end of the framework and is shownpartially broken away in FIGURE 2. This belt member passes over thepulley 28 attached to the other end 29 of the framework (see FIGURE l),and thence returns to the attached `support members 30 and carry thevertically positioned tubes 32. The support posts 33 are slidablyjournalled within the tubes 32 to provide for vertical adjustment of theframework as described in a manner well known in the art by handles 34.The turning handles Iare suitably attached to threaded yrods or the likewithin the tubes 32 so that rotation of the handles will provide thedesired height between the supporting tracks and the framework. Thetracks upon which the machine travels are indicated by the characters 35and 36 and are of the approximate shape as shown. Trucks 37 upon whichare journalled the rollers or wheels 38 for rolling along the track 36are fixed to the lower end ofthe posts 33 for movement of the machine.

The other side of the support structure is substantially the same as thestationary support structure with the exception that the support members39 are modified from 3 members 30 (see FIGURE 1). These members carryposts 33 in tubes 32 which are mounted on plates 30a similar to thepiates 31. However, additional rollers 40 which are journalled to themembers 39 are used. These rollers are adapted to roll along the trackportion 14, the members 39 being braced Aacross the top by the straps41.

The trucks 37a at this end include the rollers 42 journalled thereon,these rollers includingsprockets 43 over which the sprocket chains 44pass (see FIGURE 3). The chain 44 also passes over an idler sprocket 45and drive sprockets 45a. Certain of these carriages, preferably at leastone Iat each end of the machine as shown best in FIGURE 2, are poweredby electric motors 46 which are suitably geared to drive the sprocketsat 45a thus propelling the entire arrangement along the tracks 35 and36. Certain additional bracing 47 may be provided to make the structuremore rigid.

The carriage for my finishing member includes a platform 48 (see FIGURES5 and 6), having ears 49. The vrod 50 is slidably journalled in openingsin these ears so that it can be moved from one side to the other.Projections 70 are provided on the rod embracing a toggle switch 71mounted on the platform 48. Adjustable stop members 72 are fastened tothe bar 20 near either end thereof to provide limits of travel. Thesestop members are adapted to be engaged by the ends 73 of the rod 50.Such engagement slides the rod to operate the switch for a purpose to beexplained hereinafter. A ange 51 is affixed to the ears 49 and carriesthe rollers 21. A motor 52 which may be either electrically orhydraulically driven and having a suitable gear-driven arrangementtherein, drives the shaft 53 on which is fixed a V-pulley 54. Thispulley is adapted to engage the V-belt 27 at either side as will bedescribed.

The finishing member 65 is supported on the carriage by a front support62 and rear support 63 in which is journalled the finishing member shaft64. This member may be of frusto-conical shape as shown in FIGURE or ofvariant shapes as will hereinafter appear. The finishing member may :bedriven by a motor 56 mounted on brackets 61 and driving the finishingmem-ber from the drive sprocket 58 through the chain 59 to the drivensprocket 60. Also attached to a lengthened extension of the shaft 64 maybe the helical and tapered conveyor-like auger imember 66. A set-screwat 67 fastens the auger member adjustably on the shaft 64. The character68 indicates by dotted lines that the outer periphery of the member 66is normally la continuation of the periphery 69 of the conelike member65, except when the auger-like structure 66 is adjustably positionedinwardly or outwardly.

A solenoid member 73a and a further solenoid 74 are mounted on a frame55 on the platform 48. These solenoid members have plungers 75 and 76attached to the springs 77 and 78 which are secured to the levers 79 and80 pivoted at 81 and 82. A roller 83 is journalled on the lever 79 and aroller 84 on the lever 80. These rollers are adapted to engage theV-belt 27 respectively below and above the pulley 54. To actuate eithersolenoid, the toggle switch 71 includes a contact member such as 85which will bridge either the contacts 86 or 87 (see FIGURE 8). Wheneither solenoid is actuated, it will pull its respective lever, therebycausing its roller to press the V-belt 27 against either the top orbottom of the pulley 54 to produce motion as is more fully describedhereinafter. Rollers 88 are suitably journalled to the members 89 ateither side of the device for providing a smooth rolling action (seeFIGURE 5).

The machine operates in the following manner. The various rollers orlwheels 38 and 42 will ride along the tracks 35 and 36. It should benoted that the members including the trucks 37a and support members 39are adjustable so that the spacing between the tracks 35 and 36 need notbe a standard amount.

The finishing member and the helical auger structure 66 with thesupporting structure therefor will also move in either direction 92 or93 (see FIGURE 1), on the rollers 40 and 88. During such travel, thefinishing member will finish off the surface of the cement, and thehelical member 66 will also force the thickened material at 94 (seeFIGURE 5) to be partially smoothed off, with the aggregate being forceddownwardly. The member 66 can lbe adjustably positioned as desired toprovide a greater or lesser depth of concrete. The adjustment of themember 66 along the shaft 64 will thus allow Lthe exact desired amountof concrete to be left in front of the finishing member 65. Also, due tothe fact that the apex of the frusto-conical member and of the helicaltrnember is always positioned forwardly, the cone will be alwaystraveling forwardly into the work.

The direction of travel of the machine will be directed along theroadway in the direction of the arrow 95 (see FIGURE 2), and as themachine travels in this direction, the conical member, etc. will betraveling from one side to the other of the entire framework. As thismotion progresses, the conical member will operate continuously, andwill reverse its direction automatically due to the structure shownprincipally in FIGURES 4 and 6, and as will now be explained.

. It will be noted that the pulley 54, which is being constantly rotatedor driven, is situated between the stationary V-belt structure 27. Thesolenoid 73a has been actuated in the configuration of FIGURE 4 whichpulls the lever 79 upwardly and which causes the small roller 83 toforce the V-belt 96 upwardly to firmly engage the pulley 54, which isrotating in the direction of the arrow 97. Due to this engagement withthe stationary V-belt 27, the entire carriage carrying the finishingmember will be moved in the direction of the arrow 98. The finishingmember will therefore be driven in this direction until the end 73 ofthe rod 50 strikes the right-hand member 72 as viewed in FIGURE 6,whereupon the rod 50 will be pushed in the direction of the arrow 99.This engagement will cause one of the projections 70 to throw the toggleswitch 71 over to the reverse direction, whereupon (see wiring diagram,FIGURE 7) the solenoid 74 will be actuated, and the lever 80 will bebrought downwardly to cause engagement of the small roller 84 with the-belt at 100. Thus even though the direction of rotation of the pulley54 is not changed, the carriage will then travel in the direction of thearrow 101, it being noted that actuation of one solenoid de-activatesthe other.

As a result the to and fro lateral travel of the finishing member isautomatically effected as the machine travels forwardly along theroadway.

In addition to a finishing member, it may `be desirable to provide for afloat to further finish the concrete. In order to accomplish this end, Iprovide a pair of socket members 102 attached to either side of thecarriage or platform 48. Engaging the socket members 102 are the machinescrews 103 which are adapted to ad- -justably secure horizontal rods 104extending into the integral vertical porti-ons 105 and the furtherhorizontal integral portions 106. Attached to the integral portions l106at 107 are chains 108 which are attached at 109 (see FIGURES 1 and 5) tothe curved portions 110 and a float pan 111 which can be made of metalor any other suitable material and which is adapted to drag along thesurface of the concrete to assist in finishing off the same in theproper manner.

As illustrated in FIG-URE 8, my device may also be used as a mechanicalstraight edge. To accomplish this, I provide a pair of supports 112attached to the carriage or platform 48, which operates in the samemanner as the device previously described. A shaft 113 iS driven by thechain 59 through the sprocket v60, and is journalled in the supports112. The hollow cylindrical finishing member 114 is attached to theshaft 113 and is driven thereby.,Although in most applications, it isnot necessary, the shaft 113 may also carry an auger member 115. Also,if desired, the shaft 113 and the above described shaft 64 can bepositioned slightly ofi"- Cente'r of the true center ofthe.frustoconical member, or the cylindrical member, so that as thesemembers rotate` they will provide a' slight impacting effecty againstthe concrete. v,

The device illustrated in FIGURE 8 and described above will provide thesame effect as a mechanical straight edge for levellingand.finishingv-concretef'fhis type of straight edge is ordinarily handoperated and in most cases is required by specifications to be ten feetlong. By providing a small diameter roller 114 of that length, I havebeen able to produce results -fully equivalent to those accomplishedwith a ten foot hand operated straight edge.

Several additional variations of my device are possible. In FIGURES 9and 10. I illustrate one modification in which I use a non-driven oat116 suspended on supports 117 which are similar to the previouslydescribed supports in that they are carried by the platform 48. Thefloat 116 is preferably formed with a metal base 118 with a woodeninsert 119. This insert is preferably of a type of wood such as redwoodwhich will not rot readily. An auger 120 is provided to provide initiallevelling. This auger may be driven by a chain 59 through a sprocket 60as previously described.

I have also discovered that a frusto-conical shape for the finishingmember is not required. Thus, I can use a cylindrical member 122. Thismember is supported in practically the same manner and is driven in thesame manner as the frusto-conical finisher. In order to achieve the bestfinish, it is necessary to modify the front support 62' slightly. Thisis done by providing a slotted opening 123 (FIG. 13) in that member. Aslidable bearing carrier 124 is slidably mounted in that slot. The shaft64 is then journalled in the bearing in that Carrier. The rear bearingin the support 63 is one which will allow some angular movement of theshaft. While this sliding bearing provides the best finish, the devicealso works well with an axis slanted permanently t either side.

In this device, it is obvious that as the finishing member is pulledlaterally, the bearing carrier 124 will slide to one end of the opening.The slight variation of the shaft from perpendicular to the lateral lineof travel results in V.a smoothing operation which is much superior tothat achieved when the member 122 is pulled across the concrete in adirection perpendicular to its axis. It will also be apparent that withsuch a cylindrical finishing member, an auger 125 can also be used. Thisauger can be either driven yby the same axle as the drum, similar to theauger in the frusto-conical conformation, or driven by a separate shaftas illustrated in FIG. 9.

Having thus described my invention in several embodiments, I am awarethat many and extensive variations therefrom are possible withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention as limited only 'bythe following claims.

Iclaim:

1. A concrete finishing machine comprising an elongated frameworkadapted to 'be positioned transversely of a concrete surface to befinished, means for moving said framework in a direction substantiallyat right angles to the length of said framework, a carriage movablymounted on said framework, means for moving said carriage along thelength of said framework, said carriage, including a cement engagingfinishing member attached thereto, the axis of said cement engagingfinishing member being generally horizontal and being positioned insubstantially the direction `of travel of Said framework, an augermember having a helically arranged blade attached adjacently to theforward end of said cement engaging member on an axis substantiallytransverse to the length of said framework, drive means on said carriagefor rotatably driving said auger member. l

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said cement engaging member,` isgenerally frusta-conical in shape and is rotatablyjdrivenjby said drivemeans, said auger-member beingadapted to travel into cement materialahead of said substantially frusto-conical member and .toassistVin.,tinishngwoff said.v cement, said auger member-also being of conicalshape.

3. The structure of claim 2 and wherein said auger member and saidfrusto-'conical member are mounted on a common axis, said auger memberbeing adjustable along said axis to allow a desired amount of concreteto 4be positioned in front of said frusto-conical member.

4. The device yof claim 1 in which said finishing member is a non-drivenmetal float member having a wood insert therein.

5. The structure of claim 1 in which said fin-ishing member is anon-driven float member suspended from said carriage by fiexiblesupporting means.

6. The structure of claim 1 wherein said finishing member is a drummeans rotatably mounted on said carriage on a substantially horizontalaxis of rotation, the horizontal axis of said finishing member being notc0- incident with its axis of rotation.

7. In a concrete finishing machine having a mobile frame, said frameincluding a carriage movable across said frame and transversely to alongitudinal concrete slab, a rotatable finishing member journalled onsaid carriage, the axis of said finishing member lying `in a positionother than perpendicular to the line of travel of said carriage acrosssaid frame.

8. The structure of claim 7, wherein said finishing member iscylindrical in shape and elongated so that its diameter is smallcompared with its length.

9. The device -of claim 2, in which said length is at least ten feet.

10. The device of `claim 7, in which said finishing member is rotatablyjournalled in a front support and a rear support, both of said supportsbeing fixed to said carriage, said front support being formed with aslotted opening therein, front bearing means for said cement engagingmember slidably mounted in said slotted opening whereby the axis ofrotation of said cement engaging member is changed upon movement `ofsaid carriage along said framework, said finishing member beingsubstantially cylindrical in shape.

11. A concrete finishing machine comprising an elongated frameworkadapted to be positioned transversely of a concrete surface to befinished, means for moving said framework substantially perpendicular tothe length of said framework, a carriage movably mounted on saidframework for motion longitudinally thereof, drive means on saidcarriage adapted to drive 'said lcarriage including a pulley on saidcarriage, belt means having an upper run and a lower run attached toIsaid framework, an upper roller movably mounted on said carriageadjacent said pulley and in position `to engage said upper run and alower pulley similarly mounted to engage said lower run whereby eachpulley is adapted to press its corresponding run into driving contactwith said pulley, solenoid means engaged with each roller, an electricalcrcuit connected to said solenoid for operation thereof, and means forautomatically reversing the travel of said carriage including a controlrod slidably engaged with said carriage, stop members attached to saidframework, said control rod including a pair of spaced apartprojections, a treversing toggle switch attached to said carriage, andbeing adapted to control said solenoid through said circuit, said switchhaving an operation member extending between said projections wherebysaid switch is operated whenever either end of said control rod engagesa stop member.

(References on following page) References Cited 3,221,618 UNITED STATESPATENTS gg 2/1952 Hohnke 941-45 1175413 7/1952 Miner 94-45 1,874,957 10/1960 Bed'erman 94-45 5 2,583,108 12/1960 Tout 94-45 9/1964 Lewis 94-45'Hudis 94-45 Borges 94-45 Rowe 94-45 Lichtenberg 94-44 Gardiner 94-45-Lewis 94-44 lNILE C. BYERS, I R., Primary Examiner.

